Dumping fork



.Ba,n. 5, 1932. w. J. SULLIVAN DUMPING FORK Filed Aug. 1, 1930 .5Sheets-Sheet aver; for

Jan. 5, 1932. w, SULLWAN 1,839,813

DUMPING FORK Filed Aug. 1, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 5, 1932. w. J.SULLIVAN 1,839,813 I DUMPING FORK Filed Aug. 1, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Q\I Q Patented Jan. 5, 1932 WILLIAM J. SULLIVAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

COIVJIPAJATY, F CHICAGQIILLINOIS, A CQBPORATION OF OHIO nnnmive 11031: i

, lApplication filed August 1,1930.- Serial No. 472,337.

My present inventioinrelates to brick handling devices, and moreparticularly to an improved brick lifting and dumping fork.

Heretofore, when utilizing dumpingforks with rigid fingers, it hasbeen'nece'ssary to dump or tilt the fork aconsi-derable distance abovethe wagon orother receptacle adapted to receive the brick. This resultedin a. considerable impact or jarring of thewagon or other receptacle, aswell as in the breakage and misalinement of thebricks so dumped.

Furthermore, with the prior type of brick fork with rigid fingers, onlya portion of the brick woulddrop therefrom when the fork was dumped, itbeing necessary to knock or remove the balance of said bricks from saidfork by hand.

n An important object of thefpresent invention, therefore, is theprovision of a dumping 2o device'which may be'dumped close. tothe bottomof the wagon or other. receptacle, and p from whichall of the brick willslip.

Another objectof the inventionv is the provision of adumping fork inwhich the entire fork frame is pivoted closely adjacent .toits upperend, permitting the rotation of the entire fork frame and the rigidfingers carried thereby throughout a. largearc, thereby enabling thefork to carry out and achieve th important, objects above mentioned. 1

Another featureof the invention resides in the provision of a simpletripping mechanism or latch, which may be readily unlatched to permittilting or swinging of thebrick fork, and; which maybe automaticallyreengaged in latching position by simply dropping the bottom of:thefork-against the edgeof a wagon, on to-the ground, or against any othersupport, whereuponthe latch or latches will be automatically moved intoholding position and the fork will be in readiness to handle asubsequent load. I i

Another feature, of the-invention resides in providing means to limitthe rocking action of the trip or latch members, said means beingadjustable so that said latch members may be positioned to automaticallyreen'gage the cooperating latch portions of the brick fork.

Further features and objects of the inven tion reside in the particularconstruction and arrangement of my novel fork.

The above and other objects and features of the invention combinationsof parts, de-

tails, and advantages, will be hereinafter more fully pointed out,describedand claimed.

Referring now to the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention 1 is a front elevation of mynov el fork;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; 1

Fig. 3 a vertical sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1';

Fig. 4 isv a cross sectional view on the line HofF1g.2;' V g F 1g. 5 1sa fragmentary rear elevationof the fork; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional of the latching mechanism.

-Referring now to the drawings, for. a particular descriptionoftheinventiomits construction, and operation, l designates'lifting eyesattached to a turnable frame 2, the portion 3 being rotatable on saidturntable in the usual manner.

Depending from the portion 2 are a pair of T- bars 4 to. whichareattached yokes 5, which yokes in turn are secured. to beams 6, saidbeams having depending" yoked portions 7 at their rear, in each of whichis mounted a pivot pin 8. The topframes 9 of the fork are pivoted on thepivot pins "8, said'frames supporting, by means of'vertical braces 10and. inclined. braces 11, atfinger bar. 12 in which are mounted apluralityof vertically movable but 'non-swingable' fingers .13.. Thefront ends of the frames 9 are yoked, as at cooperating latch members. Ashaft 17 unites the front yoked ends 18 of the beams 6, and fixed tosaid shaft by pins 19 are.

latches 20, said latches being located in the yokedends of the beamsl6'and depending into the yoked ends of'the'fork framesi9. I Thelever 21isfixed to a member 22 which cable24r extends "upwardly throughtheturn Fnssreivon T0 AMERICAN EQUIPMENT "PA N OFFICE-}; v.

'14, and uniting said front ends is a tie-rod [15 having reduced ends-16Whichjserveas Each of the fingers 13' is fixed to a hollow casting 25 bymeans of bolts 26, or the like, and in said casting are mounted aplurality of rollers 27 spaced. to receive therebetween a tubular sleeve28, said sleeve beingprovlded' with slots 29 in which ride a shaft 30.This shaft 30 is fixed in the casting 25, as will be cl arly apparent ata glance atF-ig. 2. The

tubular sleeve 28 is fixed tov the finger bar 12 by bolts 31 and nuts.32, said bolts passing through the flange 33 of said member28.

Mounted on the shaft 30 is a vertical rod 34 projecting upwardly throughthe tubular sleeve 28 and through an aperture 35 in the finger bar 12,said rod 34 having a cup 36 slidably mounted thereon and within which isseated one end of a coiled spring 37,- the other end of said springbeing seated on top of the finger bar 12. Lock nuts 38 serve to keep thecup 36 at the point desired for a predetermined tension of the spring37. Y

' The construction of each-of the fingers 13 and their connection to thefinger bar 12 is identical,' so that 'a description of'onewill serve asa description for all.

Fixed to each casting 25 by bolts 39 is a brick-alining member 40, thefront edge of this member 40 being alined with the front end .41ofthecasting 25 and the shoulder 42 of the finger 13, thus providing avertical alining member for thebrick carried on the fingers13,-and'insuring against disalinement of the bottomrojw or rows of brickwhen the fork is pushed into a stack of'brick.

It will thus be understoodby those skilled "in the art, that therows orcourses of brick in a kiln shrink unevenly and, therefore, vary in theirhorizontal alinement. Not only does each course ofbrick shrink ina'somewhat different manner from those adjacent to -it, when burned, butsuch variation is apt to be distorted throughout a plurality of courses.

:Therefore, the rows of brick in a kiln, after the kiln 1s burned,are1nawavehke formation, the rows or courses appearlng 1n undulating. linesof varying extent, but mostly distorted from a horizontal plane. Becauseof ,thisfact, ,I utilize the individual vertically adjustable fingersillustrated in the present 1 application.

' j I also provide each of the fingers-13'with a tapered forward end 43so that as the device is appliedtoa stack of brick and forced inwardly,each finger 13 will, independently of each other, follow theline of thecourse of-brick to. which, itis applied. :It will be appreciated thatburned brick in a kiln are in, spaced orhackedrelation and, therefore,

the tapered forward end 43 of each finger will enablei the fingers to'beforced into the inter- V stices betweenthe brick, followingthe lines ofleast resistance and permitting the finger- V 65400.assume a higher andlower vertical posithe fork is dropped to resetthe latch mem- 7 tion toenable it to be thus forced into the mass of brick in the kiln.

When the fork is in place, preferably under a considerable plurality ofrows of brick, in

order to remove the unit of brick over the fingers 113, the fork is thenlifted, through the medium of the lifting rings 1, and all the brickengaging fingers 13 which were disalined during the process of applyingthe fork to the brick stack, will settleidown against the tension of thesprings 37 and free vertical reciprocation by means .of the rollers'27engaging the sleeve 28,,a'nd thus reducing the friction occasloned bythe reciprocationjof the castings or carriages 25 on the sleeves 28.

When the fork, and the load of brick carried thereby, have been moved orconveyed to a position over a caror wagon into which the load or stackof brick-is to be dumped,

the fork may be lowered until it is substan-. tiallyin contact Withathesurface of the said car or wagon. Thereupon a pullisexerted on the cable24, raising-the lever 21 and r0- ta'ting the shaft 17, and'hence thelatch members 20 carried thereby. This'will cause the members 16,whereupon the weight vof the brickcarried by the fingers 13 will swingthe entire fork on the pivotpins 8, lowering the front ends of thefingers 13and dumping the,

pivot pins 8, and withdrawing the, fork from.

the wagon or car, at the same time permit- "ting the balance of thestack of brick to slide gently therefrom and be deposited on the car orwa on.

After the fork is free o'fthe stack of brick,

lowering the same against the side a of the wagon, or against theground, whereupon the in clined-edge 44 of'the latch'members 20 willengage the fixed latch members 16, andwill.

be forced outwardly until latching position is reached, whereupon thelatchmembers 20 will drop intothe latching position illustrated in fulllines in Fig. 6. Each latch member 20 is provided with a lug 45, and an,

adjusting screw 46 is provided in each beam 6, to determine the limit ofswing of the latch members 20 ina counter-clockwise direction. Thescrews 46 will be adjusted so that when .100 latch members20 todisengage the fixed latch ..115 it may be reset in lifting position'bysimply" bers, the inclined face 44 will always engage the fixed latchmembers 16 as above described.

By having the entire fork pivoted adjacent to its upper end, but belowthe latching point, all of the brick are allowed to slide off of thefingers 13, said pivoting also allowing the fork to be dumped quiteclose to the car or wagon to be loaded.

During transporting of a load or stack of brick on the fork, there is nodanger of the latch members 20 being released, the weight of the stackof brick on the fingers obviating this difficulty, and eliminating thenecessity of using springs or other devices tohold the latch members 20in position.

I believe that the brick dumping fork illustrated and described in thepresent ap plication is novel, and I have therefore claimed the samebroadly herein.

While I have necessarily described my present invention somewhat indetail, it will be appreciated that I may vary the size, shape andarrangement of partswithin reasonably wide limits, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

My invention is further described and defined in the form of claims asfollows:

1. A brick handling fork comprising a frame, and a plurality ofvfingerscarried by said frame, said frame being pivoted adjacent to its toprearend.

2. A brick handling fork comprising a frame, a plurality of fingerscarried by said frame, said frame being pivoted adjacent to its top rearend, and means engaging said frame adjacent to its top front end tonormally prevent swinging of said fork on its pivot.

3. A brick handling device of the kind del scribed, comprising asupport, pivot pins carried by said support, a fork swingably mounted onsaid pivot pins adjacent to the upper end of said, fork, a shaft carriedby said support, a latch fixed to each end of said shaft, fixed memberson said fork adapted to be normally engaged by said latches to hold saidfork in brick handling position, a lever on said shaft intermediate saidlatches, and means to actuate said lever to rotate said shaft, wherebysaid latches will be moved out of engagement with said fixed members.

4. A brick handling device of the kind shaft, whereby said latch will bemoved out of engagement with said fixed member, and adjustable means tolimit the movement of said latch in one direction. V

I 6. A brick handling device of the kind described, comprising asupport, a fork, cooperating latching means on said support and theupper forward end of said fork, and

depending members on said support, said fork being pivoted on saiddepending members below the latching point;

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM J. SULLIVAN.

described, comprising a support, pivotpins V carried by said support, afork swingably mounted on said pivot pins adjacent to the upper end ofsaid fork, a shaft carried by said support, a latch fixed to said shaft,a member on said fork adapted to be normally engaged by said latch tohold said fork in brick handling position, a lever on said shaft, meansto actuate said lever torrotate said shaft, whereby said latch will bemoved out of engagement with said fixed member, and a manuallyadjustable stop screw adapt- I

